Environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesture recognition

ABSTRACT

Technologies are generally described for environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesture recognition. In some examples, user environment including, but not limited to, location, device size, virtual or physical display size, is detected and gesture control range adjusted according to the detected environment. In other examples, a controller user interface or dynamic range status indicator may be adjusted based on the modified gesture recognition range control.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of International Patent ApplicationSerial No. PCT/US10/62354 filed on Dec. 29, 2010. The disclosures of theInternational Patent Application are hereby incorporated by referencefor all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in thissection are not prior art to the claims in this application and are notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Traditional media equipment and computer controlled devices such ascomputers, televisions, message boards, electronic billboards, andmonitoring devices are controlled directly over a user interface usinginput hardware. Typically, they are directly controlled using inputdevices such as a mouse, remote control, keyboard, stylus, touch screen,or the like for controlling the device. Since the input devices areintegrated with the devices, in order for users to interact with adevice, the users need to have direct access to or be in close proximityto such input devices and screens in order to initiate actions on,operate and control the devices through keystrokes on a keyboard,movements of a mouse, and selections on a touchscreen. If the inputdevices are not directly accessible to the users, the interactionbetween the user and the devices may be limited and the user may not beable to operate and control the devices, thus limiting the usefulness ofthe devices.

Recent developments in technology have enabled electronic device to beequipped with motion detection mechanisms to activate the devices, forexample, by the waving of a hand or detection of motion in a predefinedarea. Because device sizes, user distance to a device, and similarcircumstances may vary, typical electronic devices controlled bygestures may be commonly configured to detect a larger range ofgestures. Depending on the circumstances, however, a user may wish (orneed to) use smaller gestures, for example finger gestures instead ofhand gestures.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure presents a method for adjusting a dynamic rangeof gesture recognition. According to some examples, the method mayinclude detecting an environment of a user of a gesture-recognitioncapable electronic device and adjusting a gesture input dynamic rangefor the gesture-recognition capable electronic device based on thedetected environment of the user.

The present disclosure also describes an apparatus capable of adjustinga dynamic range of gesture recognition. According to some examples, theapparatus may include an image capture device configured to detectgestures, a memory configured to store instructions, and a processorcoupled to the memory. The processor may be adapted to execute theinstructions, which when executed configure the processor to detect anenvironment of a user and adjust a gesture input dynamic range based onthe detected environment of the user.

The present disclosure further describes a computer-readable storagemedium having instructions stored thereon for adjusting a dynamic rangeof gesture recognition. The instructions may include detecting anenvironment of a user of a gesture-recognition capable electronic deviceand adjusting a gesture input dynamic range for the gesture-recognitioncapable electronic device based on the environment of the user.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The below described and other features of this disclosure will becomemore fully apparent from the following description and appended claims,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding thatthese drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with thedisclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of itsscope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity anddetail through use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating one example implementationof an environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesturerecognition;

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating another exampleimplementation of an environment-dependent dynamic range control forgesture recognition;

FIG. 3 illustrates adjustment of gesture input controls based ondetection of the environment on the same device;

FIG. 4 illustrates adjustment of gesture input controls based ondetection of the environment on different devices;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example gesture recognition dynamic range statusindicator on a portable computing device;

FIG. 6 illustrates an adjustment of gesture UI range in a usagescenario, where the device configuration varies based on the user'slocation;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of gesture-based control UI adjustmentdepending on the environment of the user;

FIG. 8 illustrates a general purpose computing device, which may be usedto implement environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesturerecognition;

FIG. 9 illustrates a special purpose processor, which may be used toimplement environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesturerecognition;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method forimplementing environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesturerecognition that may be performed by a computing device such as device800 in FIG. 8 or a special purpose processor such as processor 990 ofFIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer programproduct, all arranged in accordance with at least some embodimentsdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented herein. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe Figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, anddesigned in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which areexplicitly contemplated herein.

This disclosure is generally drawn, inter alia, to methods, apparatus,systems, devices, and/or computer program products related toenvironment-dependent dynamic range control for gesture recognition.

Briefly stated, dynamic range control may be provided for gesturerecognition based on user environment. According to some embodiments,user environment including, but not limited to, location, device size,virtual or physical display size, may be detected and gesture controlrange may be adjusted according to the detected environment. Accordingto other embodiments, a controller user interface or dynamic rangestatus indicator may be adjusted based on the modified gesturerecognition range control.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating one example implementationof an environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesturerecognition in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein. As depicted in a diagram 100, electronic devices such as acomputing device 112 may be controlled by gesture recognition instead ofor in addition to conventional control mechanisms such as mechanicalcontrols (e.g., keyboard, mouse, etc.), audio controls (e.g., speechrecognition), and similar ones.

The computing device 112 may be conductively, optically, or wirelesslycoupled (110) to a display device 104. The display device 104 mayinclude an integrated image capture device 106 (e.g., a camera).Alternatively, the image capture device 106 may be a separate deviceconductively, optically, or wirelessly coupled to the display device104. In an example implementation, a user 102 may control selectfunctionality of the computing device 112 through gestures. The gesturesmay be captured by the image capture device 106 and recognized at thecomputing device 112, which may map them to specific input commands andprocess accordingly.

The computing device 112 may display control elements 108 to providefeedback to the user 102 and make it easier for the user 102 to performspecific gestures. For example, displayed buttons may be associated withspecific commands and a button may be activated upon detecting theuser's motion (e.g., with a hand) toward that button. As feedback, acolor/shading/size of the button may be modified upon activationindicating to the user 102 that the gesture was successfully recognized.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating another exampleimplementation of an environment-dependent dynamic range control forgesture recognition in accordance with at least some embodimentsdescribed herein. As depicted in a diagram 200, gesture-based control isnot limited to conventional computing devices such as laptop computers,desktop computers, handheld computers, vehicle-mount computers, smartphones, or similar devices. While the distinction between computingdevices and other electronic devices such as household appliances isprogressively being blurred by incorporation of special purposeprocessors and communication capabilities to a wide range of electronicdevices, those are still considered in a separate category.

Gesture-based control may also be implemented in a wide variety ofelectronic devices such as televisions, entertainment systems, AutomatedTeller Machines (ATMs), or comparable devices. The diagram 200illustrates a projection display 204 that may be used in a home orpublic environment to display still or video images. Functionality ofthe projection display 204 such as power-on/power-off, displaycharacteristics, audio characteristics, etc. may be controlled byrecognizing gestures of a user 202. As in FIG. 1, a control userinterface with one or more control elements 208 may be presented to easethe user's interaction with the gesture recognition mechanism andprovide feedback to the user 202. The gestures may be captured through avideo camera 206, which may alternatively be a still image camera, awebcam, or similar image capture device.

As the example implementations in FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate, the devicesemploying gesture recognition and the environment, in which they areused, may vary across a broad spectrum. On one end of the spectrum arehandheld devices (e.g., a smart phone) with relatively small displays;on the other end are relatively large projection displays or televisionsets. Similarly, in a home or office environment, a user may be free touse large gestures with hands and arms, while in public environments,the available space and other considerations (e.g., reaction of otherpeople to the gestures) may necessitate the use of smaller gestures suchas finger gestures.

In a system according to some embodiments, a user's environment such asdisplay size (virtual or physical) and/or location (public or private)may be detected by the device being controlled by gestures automaticallyand a dynamic range for gesture recognition adjusted. For example, therange may be modified for smaller gestures in a public place or when theavailable display is small, and for larger gestures in a private placeor when the available display size is large. The detection may be basedon location determination (e.g., use of a Global Positioning Service(GPS), a cellular location service, a wireless network location service,etc.), interpretation of video and/or audio signals from the environment(e.g., detection of large number of people in the background or noiselevels), or user input. A control user interface associated with gesturerecognition may be adjusted in size or arrangement based on the detectedenvironment as well. If no control user interface is provided, a dynamicrange indicator may be presented to the user to make the user aware ofthe change in the dynamic range.

FIG. 3 illustrates adjustment of gesture input controls based ondetection of the environment on the same device in accordance with atleast some embodiments described herein. A diagram 300 illustrates anexample of adjusting dynamic range control of gesture recognition.

A display 310 presents an image 312 (e.g., buildings) and a gesturerecognition control user interface 314. The control user interface 314may include a number of control elements such as buttons, slidingcontrols, text boxes, and so on. Different color, shading, textual, orgraphical schemes may be used to render the interaction user-friendlyand to provide feedback to a user. For example, with a relativelysmaller control user interface such as the one shown on the display 310,the user may employ finger gestures 316 to select/activate elements ofthe control user interface 314.

A display 320 presents an image 322 and a larger control user interface324. In response to detecting the user's environment, a system accordingto some embodiments may adjust the dynamic range of gesture recognitionand a size of the displayed control user interface 324. Thus, the usermay now utilize hand gestures 326 instead of finger gestures. Inaddition to the size, an arrangement of and/or a number of elementswithin the displayed control user interface 324 may also be modifiedbased on the detected environment and adjusted dynamic range for gesturerecognition.

FIG. 4 illustrates adjustment of gesture input controls based ondetection of the environment on different devices in accordance with atleast some embodiments described herein. A diagram 400 illustrates anexample of gesture recognition dynamic range and control user interfaceadjustment based on device type. It is common for users to switchbetween computing devices and continue using the same softwareapplication. For example, the user may be browsing a web page on theirhandheld computing device and when they arrive at home or in the office,they may switch to the larger display of their desktop computer andcontinue browsing the same web page. Similarly, a person may continueviewing the same show on different television sets with different sizedisplays.

A handheld computing device 430 is an example of a smaller form devicedisplaying an image 432 to the user. A control user interface 434 ispresented on the handheld computing device 430 for gesture recognitionfunctionality. Due to the size of the device, the control user interface434 may also be relatively small (e.g., smaller buttons positionedcloser to each other).

When the user switches to a larger display device 440 (e.g., monitor ofa desktop computer), a similar image 442 may be continued to bedisplayed, but upon detecting the change in the display environment, thedisplay device 440 may adjust the dynamic range of gesture recognitionand at the same time adjust a size and/or arrangement of a control userinterface 444 (e.g., larger buttons wider apart from each other).

FIG. 5 illustrates an example gesture recognition dynamic range statusindicator on a portable computing device in accordance with at leastsome embodiments described herein. As depicted in a diagram 500, acontrol user interface may not always be presented. In such scenarios, adevice according to some embodiments may display an indicator 548 forgesture recognition dynamic range. If the user is not informed about theadjusted dynamic range, the accuracy of gesture recognition may bereduced. To prevent that, a graphical or textual indicator such as thebutton indicator 548 may be displayed in an appropriate place of thedisplay (e.g., under the main displayed image 546).

According to some embodiments, a size, a color, and/or a shading of thedisplayed button may indicate the current dynamic range for gesturerecognition. According to other embodiments, other graphical schemessuch as a sliding scale or a combination of two graphical elements(e.g., a distance between to icons) may be used to indicate the currentdynamic range.

FIG. 6 illustrates an adjustment of gesture UI range in a usagescenario, where the device configuration varies based on the user'slocation in accordance with at least some embodiments described herein.As discussed previously, a system according to embodiments is configuredto detect the environment. The detection of the environment may be basedon one or more of location determination, detection of user's space,determination of a distance between the image capture device and theuser, or any combination thereof.

Location determination may be performed using a location service such asa GPS, cellular, or wireless/wired network service, as well asinterpretation of audio and/or video signals (e.g., detection of apublic environment, crowds, etc.). The detection of the user's space mayinclude detection of whether or not there are other people near theuser, whether there is sufficient room around the user, or the like. Thedistance between the image capture device capturing the gestures and theuser may determine how accurately the gestures are recognized.Therefore, the distance may be detected as a third aspect of the user'senvironment to adjust the dynamic range for gesture recognition.

For the adjustment of gesture recognition dynamic range, two types ofscenarios may be considered: in one scenario, the environment maychange, but the device configuration (e.g., size of display, detectioncapability, etc.) may not; in the other scenario, the deviceconfiguration may change along with the environment change.

As depicted in a diagram 600, a user's distance from an image capturingdevice 651 may influence a range for user movements. For example, if theuser is closer to the image capturing device 651, a maximum range foruser movements (i.e., gestures) 652 may be approximately the same as arange needed to manage a control user interface 654. According to someembodiments, the dynamic range may be displayed on a controlled device650 using two indicators 656 and 658.

In a follow-up scenario, the user may arrive at a private location,place the same device on a docking station such that it becomes usablefrom a larger distance (now a device 660). In this example scenario ofthe device configuration changing along with the user's environment, anew maximum range for user movements 662 is larger than the previousmaximum range for user movements 652, although the range needed tomanage a control user interface 664 is the same as before. Thus, theuser can use larger gestures (e.g., hand gestures instead of fingermovements). This may be indicated on the device 660 with two closerpositioned dynamic range indicators 666 and 668.

Thus, in the case where just the environment changes and not the deviceconfiguration, a simple reduction of the dynamic range may besufficient. According to other scenarios, the dynamic range may beincreased or expanded. In the case where the device configuration andthe environment changes, the factors discussed above (e.g., displaysize, user's space, distance between camera and user, etc.) may beconsidered individually or in combination to determine an optimumdynamic range for gesture recognition. The control user interface and/ordisplayed dynamic range indication may also be adjusted accordingly.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of gesture-based control UI adjustmentdepending on the environment of the user in accordance with at leastsome embodiments described herein. As depicted in FIG. 7, a control userinterface for gesture recognition may take many forms. For example,Augmented Reality (AR) based implementations with head-mounted displays(or other displays) are becoming increasingly popular. Thesesemi-transparent displays enable users to see their environment whileviewing virtual user interfaces for one or more software applicationssuperimposed on the real scene.

A display 770 depicts an example AR implementation, where the user is ina public location with people 771 in the background and a desktopapplication user interface 772 superimposed over the real scene. Thedesktop application user interface 772 may include elements for a to-dolist application 774, a calendar application 775, a note takingapplication 776, and/or other control elements 773. Because the user isin a public location, a size and arrangement of the desktop applicationuser interface 772 may be minimized or configured to allow comfortableviewing of the surroundings as shown on the display 770. The adjustmentof the user interface size and/or a dynamic range for gesturerecognition (to interact with the elements of the user interface) may bebased on environment detection as described herein.

A display 780 depicts a desktop application user interface 782 that is amodified version of the desktop application user interface 772. Upondetecting a change in the user's environment such as detecting abookcase 781 instead of the people 771 and interpreting it as the userbeing in a private location, the system may increase a size of thedesktop application user interface 782. At least some of the iconsrepresenting the to-do list application 784, the calendar application785, the note taking application 786, and/or the other control elements783 may also be increased in size or placed differently to provide theuser a larger virtual work area.

Along with the increase in size of the desktop application userinterface 782, the dynamic range for gesture recognition may also beadjusted to enable the user to employ larger gestures, now that he/sheis in a private location.

FIG. 8 illustrates a general purpose computing device, which may be usedto implement environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesturerecognition in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein. In a very basic configuration 802, computing device 800typically includes one or more processors 804 and a system memory 806. Amemory bus 808 may be used for communicating between the processor 804and the system memory 806.

Depending on the desired configuration, the processor 804 may be of anytype including but not limited to a microprocessor (μP), amicrocontroller (μC), a digital signal processor (DSP), or anycombination thereof. Processor 804 may include one more levels ofcaching, such as a level cache memory 812, a processor core 814, andregisters 816. The example processor core 814 may include an arithmeticlogic unit (ALU), a floating point unit (FPU), a digital signalprocessing core (DSP Core), or any combination thereof. An examplememory controller 818 may also be used with the processor 804, or insome implementations a memory controller 818 may be an internal part ofthe processor 804.

Depending on the desired configuration, the system memory 806 may be ofany type including but not limited to volatile memory (such as RAM),non-volatile memory (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.) or any combinationthereof. The system memory 806 may include an operating system 820, anapplication 822, and program data 824. The application 822 may be anycomputer application and include a gesture recognition module 826 thatis arranged to detect user gestures and employ them as control input forthe application 822 and any other processes, methods and functions asdiscussed above. The program data 824 may include one or more ofenvironment data 828 and similar data as discussed above in conjunctionwith at least FIG. 1 through 7. This data may be useful for adjustingdynamic range control for gesture recognition as is described herein. Insome embodiments, the application 822 may be arranged to operate withthe program data 824 on the operating system 820 as described herein.This described basic configuration 802 is illustrated in FIG. 8 by thosecomponents within the inner dashed line.

Computing device 800 may have additional features or functionality, andadditional interfaces to facilitate communications between the basicconfiguration 802 and any required devices and interfaces. For example,a bus/interface controller 830 may be used to facilitate communicationsbetween the basic configuration 802 and one or more data storage devices832 via a storage interface bus 834. The data storage devices 832 may beremovable storage devices 836, non-removable storage devices 838, or acombination thereof. Examples of removable storage and non-removablestorage devices include magnetic disk devices such as flexible diskdrives and hard-disk drives (HDD), optical disk drives such as compactdisk (CD) drives or digital versatile disk (DVD) drives, solid statedrives (SSD), and tape drives to name a few. Example computer storagemedia may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removablemedia implemented in any method or technology for storage ofinformation, such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data.

The system memory 806, the removable storage devices 836 and thenon-removable storage devices 838 are examples of computer storagemedia. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other medium which may be used to store the desired informationand which may be accessed by the computing device 800. Any such computerstorage media may be part of the computing device 800.

The computing device 800 may also include an interface bus 840 forfacilitating communication from various interface devices (e.g., outputdevices 842, peripheral interfaces 844, and communication devices 866 tothe basic configuration 802 via bus/interface controller 830. Theexample output devices 842 include a graphics processing unit 848 and anaudio processing unit 850, which may be configured to communicate tovarious external devices such as a display or speakers via one or moreNV ports 852. The example peripheral interfaces 844 include a serialinterface controller 854 or a parallel interface controller 856, whichmay be configured to communicate with external devices such as inputdevices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch inputdevice, etc.) or other peripheral devices (e.g., camera, etc.) via oneor more I/O ports 858. An example communication device 866 includes anetwork controller 860, which may be arranged to facilitatecommunications with one or more other computing devices 862 over anetwork communication link via one or more communication ports 864.

The network communication link may be one example of a communicationmedia. Communication media may typically be embodied by computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other datain a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and may include any information delivery media. A “modulateddata signal” may be a signal that has one or more of its characteristicsset or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal.By way of example, and not limitation, communication media may includewired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, andwireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), microwave,infrared (IR) and other wireless media. The term computer readable mediaas used herein may include both storage media and communication media.

The computing device 800 may be implemented as a portion of a physicalserver, virtual server, a computing cloud, or a hybrid device thatinclude any of the above functions. The computing device 800 may also beimplemented as a personal computer including both laptop computer andnon-laptop computer configurations. Moreover the computing device 800may be implemented as a networked system or as part of a general purposeor specialized server.

Networks for a networked system including computing device 800 maycomprise any topology of servers, clients, switches, routers, modems,Internet service providers, and any appropriate communication media(e.g., wired or wireless communications). A system according to someembodiments may have a static or dynamic network topology. The networksmay include a secure network such as an enterprise network (e.g., a LAN,WAN, or WLAN), an unsecure network such as a wireless open network(e.g., IEEE 802.11 wireless networks), or a world-wide network such(e.g., the Internet). The networks may also comprise a plurality ofdistinct networks that are adapted to operate together. Such networksare configured to provide communication between the nodes describedherein. By way of example, and not limitation, these networks mayinclude wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wirelessmedia. Furthermore, the networks may be portions of the same network orseparate networks.

FIG. 9 illustrates a special purpose processor, which may be used toimplement environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesturerecognition in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein. As depicted in a diagram 900, a processor 990 may be part of acomputing device or any electronic device (e.g., a television, an ATMconsole, or comparable ones) capable of being controlled by gestureinput.

The processor 990 may include a number of modules such as an environmentdetection module 996 and a gesture recognition module 998 configured tocommunicate over network(s) 910-2 with capture devices such as a camera980 to capture user gestures, user environment, among other things. Upondetection of the environment by the environment detection module 996,the processor 990 may dynamically adjust a gesture input range and/or acontrol user interface size depending on the detected environment.

A memory 991 may be configured to store instructions for the controlmodules of the processor 990, which may be implemented as hardware,software, or combination of hardware and software. Some of the data mayinclude, but is not limited to, environment data 992, gesture data 994,or similar information. The processor 990 may be configured tocommunicate through electrical couplings or through networkedcommunications (e.g., network(s) 910-1) with other devices, for example,a display 970 and/or data stores such as a storage facility 960.

Example embodiments may also include methods. These methods can beimplemented in any number of ways, including the structures describedherein. One such way is by machine operations, of devices of the typedescribed in the present disclosure. Another optional way is for one ormore of the individual operations of the methods to be performed inconjunction with one or more human operators performing some of theoperations while other operations are performed by machines. These humanoperators need not be collocated with each other, but each can be onlywith a machine that performs a portion of the program. In otherexamples, the human interaction can be automated such as by pre-selectedcriteria that are machine automated.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method forimplementing environment-dependent dynamic range control for gesturerecognition that may be performed by a computing device such as thedevice 800 in FIG. 8 or a special purpose processor such as theprocessor 990 of FIG. 9 in accordance with at least some embodimentsdescribed herein. The operations described in blocks 1022 through 1028may be stored as computer-executable instructions in a computer-readablemedium 1020 and executed by a controller device 1010, which may be thecomputing device 800 in FIG. 8, the special purpose processor 990 ofFIG. 9, or a similar device.

A process of employing environment-dependent dynamic range control forgesture recognition may begin with operation 1022, “DETECT ENVIRONMENT.”At operation 1022, the environment of the user such as the location, thesize of the device and/or display, etc. may be determined based positioninformation, information from a camera, information from a microphone,or comparable sources.

Operation 1022 may be followed by operation 1024, “ADJUST GESTURE INPUTDYNAMIC RANGE.” At operation 1024, a gesture recognition setting may beadjusted based on the detected environment. For example, gesturecontrols may be changed from hand-based controls to finger-basedcontrols or vice versa. Of course, smaller adjustments (e.g., largerhand gestures vs. smaller hand gestures) may also be performed.

Operation 1024 may be followed by optional operation 1026, “IF THERE ISA CONTROLLER USER INTERFACE, ADJUST CONTROLLER USER INTERFACE SIZE.” Atoptional operation 1026, a controller user interface may be adjustedbased on the detected environment and/or the adjusted gesturerecognition range. For example, a number and/or size of buttons orsimilar control elements, an arrangement of the control elements may bemodified based on the above discussed circumstances.

Optional operation 1026 may be followed by optional operation 1028, “IFTHERE IS NO CONTROLLER USER INTERFACE, PROVIDE/ADJUST DYNAMIC RANGESTATUS INDICATOR.” At optional operation 1028, one or more icons orsimilar display elements may be used to provide feedback to the userabout the adjusted gesture recognition range if the device does notinclude a controller user interface.

The operations included in the above described process are forillustration purposes. Environment-dependent dynamic range control forgesture recognition may be implemented by similar processes with feweror additional operations. In some examples, the operations may beperformed in a different order. In some other examples, variousoperations may be eliminated. In still other examples, variousoperations may be divided into additional operations, or combinedtogether into fewer operations.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer programproduct, arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments describedherein. In some examples, as shown in FIG. 11, a computer programproduct 1100 may include a signal bearing medium 1102 that may alsoinclude machine readable instructions 1104 that, when executed by, forexample, a processor, may provide the functionality described above withrespect to FIG. 8 or 9. Thus, for example, referring to the computingdevice 800, the environment detection module 826 may undertake one ormore of the tasks shown in FIG. 11 in response to instructions 1104conveyed to the processor 804 by the signal bearing medium 1102 toperform actions associated with environment-dependent dynamic rangecontrol for gesture recognition as described herein. Some of thoseinstructions may be associated with detecting the environment, adjustinggesture input dynamic range, and adjusting controller user interfaceand/or dynamic range status indicator.

In some implementations, the signal bearing medium 1102 depicted in FIG.11 may encompass a computer-readable medium 1106, such as, but notlimited to, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital VersatileDisk (DVD), a digital tape, memory, etc. In some implementations, thesignal bearing medium 1102 may encompass a recordable medium 1108, suchas, but not limited to, memory, read/write (R/W) CDs, R/W DVDs, etc. Insome implementations, the signal bearing medium 1102 may encompass acommunications medium 1110, such as, but not limited to, a digitaland/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, awaveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link,etc.). Thus, for example, the program product 1100 may be conveyed toone or more modules of the processor 990 by an RF signal bearing medium,where the signal bearing medium 1102 is conveyed by a wirelesscommunications medium 1110 (e.g., a wireless communications mediumconforming with the IEEE 802.11 standard).

The present disclosure presents a method for adjusting a dynamic rangeof gesture recognition. According to some examples, the method includedetecting an environment of a user of a gesture-recognition capableelectronic device and adjusting a gesture input dynamic range for thegesture-recognition capable electronic device based on the detectedenvironment of the user. The environment may include a public locationor a private location.

According to other examples, the method may also include adjusting asize of a gesture recognition control user interface (UI) based on theadjusted gesture input dynamic range if the electronic device displays agesture recognition control UI. The gesture recognition control UI mayinclude a control element and/or an application user interface. Themethod may further include adjusting the gesture recognition control UIby modifying one or more of a size and/or a position of at least oneelement of the gesture recognition control UI.

According to further examples, the method may include displaying agesture input dynamic range indicator that reflects a current gestureinput dynamic range if the electronic device does not display a gesturerecognition control UI. The method may further include detecting theenvironment based on one or more of: an audio signal, a video signal,and/or location information. The location information may be obtainedfrom one or more of a Global Positioning Service (GPS) signal, awireless network signal, and/or a cellular communication signal. Themethod may also include detecting the environment based on imagerecognition, a configuration of the electronic device, or a distancebetween the electronic device and the user.

The present disclosure also describes an apparatus capable of adjustinga dynamic range of gesture recognition. According to some examples, theapparatus may include an image capture device for detecting gestures, amemory configured to store instructions, and a processor coupled to thememory. The processor may be adapted to execute the instructions, whichwhen executed configure the processor to detect an environment of a userand adjust a gesture input dynamic range based on the detectedenvironment of the user. The environment may be a public location or aprivate location. The processor may further be configured to adjust asize of a gesture recognition control user interface (UI) based on theadjusted gesture input dynamic range if the apparatus displays a gesturerecognition control UI.

According to other examples, the gesture recognition control UI mayinclude a control element and/or an application user interface, and theprocessor may adjust the gesture recognition control UI by modifying oneor more of a size and/or a position of at least one element of thegesture recognition control UI. The processor may also display a gestureinput dynamic range indicator that reflects a current gesture inputdynamic range if the electronic device does not display a gesturerecognition control UI.

According to further examples, the processor may detect the environmentbased on one or more of: an audio signal, a video signal, and/or alocation information, where the apparatus may further include at leastone communication module capable of obtaining the location informationfrom a Global Positioning Service (GPS) signal, a wireless networksignal, or a cellular communication signal. The apparatus may alsoinclude one or more of a microphone to capture audio signals and acamera to capture video signals from the environment in order todetermine a type of the environment.

The processor may detect the environment based on one or more of: imagerecognition, a configuration of the apparatus, a type of the apparatus,and/or a distance between the user and the apparatus. Furthermore, theapparatus may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheldcomputer, a vehicle-mount computer, a smart phone a television monitor,a projection device, or a display coupled to a computing device.

The present disclosure further describes a computer-readable storagemedium having instructions stored thereon for adjusting a dynamic rangeof gesture recognition. The instructions may include detecting anenvironment of a user of a gesture-recognition capable electronic deviceand adjusting a gesture input dynamic range for the gesture-recognitioncapable electronic device based on the environment of the user, whichmay be a public location or a private location.

The instructions may also include adjusting a size of a gesturerecognition control user interface (UI) based on the adjusted gestureinput dynamic range if the electronic device displays a gesturerecognition control UI, where the gesture recognition control UIincludes a control element and/or an application user interface.According to other examples, the instructions may further includeadjusting the gesture recognition control UI by modifying one or more ofa size and/or a position of at least one element of the gesturerecognition control UI, and displaying a gesture input dynamic rangeindicator that reflects a current gesture input dynamic range if theelectronic device does not display a gesture recognition control UI. Theenvironment may be detected based on one or more of: an audio signal, avideo signal, and/or location information. The environment may also bedetected based on one or more of image recognition, a configuration ofthe electronic device, a type of the electronic device, and/or adistance between the user and the electronic device.

There is little distinction left between hardware and softwareimplementations of aspects of systems; the use of hardware or softwareis generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choicebetween hardware and software may become significant) a design choicerepresenting cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs. There are various vehiclesby which processes and/or systems and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), andthat the preferred vehicle will vary with the context in which theprocesses and/or systems and/or other technologies are deployed. Forexample, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy areparamount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmwarevehicle; if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for amainly software implementation; or, yet again alternatively, theimplementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/orfirmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples may be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, may be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure.

The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particularembodiments described in this application, which are intended asillustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations canbe made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparentto those skilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods andapparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to thoseenumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from theforegoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intendedto fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosureis to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along withthe full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It isto be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particularmethods, materials, and configurations, which can, of course, vary. Itis also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for thepurpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intendedto be limiting.

In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that themechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of beingdistributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that anillustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein appliesregardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used toactually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing mediuminclude, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type mediumsuch as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), a DigitalVersatile Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and atransmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analogcommunication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wiredcommunications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such describeddevices and/or processes into data processing systems. That is, at leasta portion of the devices and/or processes described herein may beintegrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that atypical data processing system generally includes one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one ormore interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or controlsystems including feedback loops and control modules (e.g., adjustinggesture input dynamic range).

A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing anysuitable commercially available components, such as those typicallyfound in data computing/communication and/or networkcomputing/communication systems. The herein described subject mattersometimes illustrates different components contained within, or coupledwith, different other components. It is to be understood that suchdepicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many otherarchitectures may be implemented which achieve the same functionality.In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the samefunctionality is effectively “associated” such that the desiredfunctionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined toachieve a particular functionality may be seen as “associated with” eachother such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermediate components. Likewise, any two componentsso associated may also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated may also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically connectable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of theappended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one”or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articlesused to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specificnumber of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at leasttwo recitations, or two or more recitations).

Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C”would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone,C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general sucha construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive wordand/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood toinclude the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are describedin terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individualmember or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopeand spirit being indicated by the following claims.

1. A method for adjusting a dynamic range of gesture recognition, themethod comprising: detecting an environment of a user of agesture-recognition capable electronic device; determining whether thedetected environment is proper for large gestures or small gestures; andadjusting a gesture input dynamic range for the gesture-recognitioncapable electronic device based on the detected environment of the userand the determination of proper gesture size.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the environment comprises one of a public location anda private location.
 3. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: adjusting a size of a gesture recognition control userinterface (UI) based on the adjusted gesture input dynamic range if theelectronic device displays a gesture recognition control UI.
 4. Themethod according to claim 3, wherein the gesture recognition control UIincludes at least one from a set of: a control element and anapplication user interface.
 5. The method according to claim 3, furthercomprising: adjusting the gesture recognition control UI by modifyingone or more of a size and/or a position of at least one element of thegesture recognition control UI.
 6. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: displaying a gesture input dynamic range indicatorthat reflects a current gesture input dynamic range if the electronicdevice does not display a gesture recognition control UI.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: detecting the environmentbased on one or more of: an audio signal, a video signal, and/or alocation information.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein thelocation information is obtained from one or more of a GlobalPositioning Service (GPS) signal, a wireless network signal, and acellular communication signal.
 9. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: detecting the environment based on one or more of:image recognition, a configuration of the electronic device, and/or adistance between the electronic device and the user.
 10. (canceled) 11.(canceled)
 12. An apparatus capable of adjusting a dynamic range ofgesture recognition, comprising: an image capture device configured todetect gestures; a memory configured to store instructions; a processorcoupled to the memory, wherein the processor is adapted to execute theinstructions, which when executed configure the processor to: detect anenvironment of a user; determine whether the detected environment isproper for large gestures or small gestures; and adjust a gesture inputdynamic range based on the detected environment of the user and thedetermination of proper gesture size.
 13. (canceled)
 14. The apparatusaccording to claim 12, the processor is further configured to: adjust asize of a gesture recognition control user interface (UI) based on theadjusted gesture input dynamic range if the apparatus displays a gesturerecognition control UI.
 15. (canceled)
 16. The apparatus according toclaim 14, the processor is further configured to: adjust the gesturerecognition control UI by modifying one or more of a size and/or aposition of at least one element of the gesture recognition control UI.17. The apparatus according to claim 12, the processor is furtherconfigured to: display a gesture input dynamic range indicator thatreflects a current gesture input dynamic range if the electronic devicedoes not display a gesture recognition control UI.
 18. The apparatusaccording to claim 12, the processor is further configured to: detectthe environment based on one or more of: an audio signal, a videosignal, and/or a location information.
 19. The apparatus according toclaim 18, further comprising at least one communication module capableof obtaining the location information from one of a Global PositioningService (GPS) signal, a wireless network signal, and a cellularcommunication signal.
 20. The apparatus according to claim 12, furthercomprising one or more of a microphone to capture audio signals and acamera to capture video signals from the environment in order todetermine a type of the environment.
 21. The apparatus according toclaim 12, the processor is further configured to: detect the environmentbased on one or more of: image recognition, a configuration of theapparatus, a type of the apparatus, and/or a distance between the userand the apparatus.
 22. The apparatus according to claim 12, comprisingone of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, avehicle-mount computer, a smart phone a television monitor, a projectiondevice, and a display coupled to a computing device.
 23. Acomputer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon foradjusting a dynamic range of gesture recognition, the instructionscomprising: detecting an environment of a user of a gesture-recognitioncapable electronic device; determining whether the detected environmentis proper for large gestures or small gestures; and adjusting a gestureinput dynamic range for the gesture-recognition capable electronicdevice based on the environment of the user and the determination ofproper gesture size.
 24. (canceled)
 25. The computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 23, wherein the instructions further comprise:adjusting a size of a gesture recognition control user interface (UI)based on the adjusted gesture input dynamic range if the electronicdevice displays a gesture recognition control UI.
 26. (canceled)
 27. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 25, wherein theinstructions further comprise: adjusting the gesture recognition controlUI by modifying one or more of a size and/or a position of at least oneelement of the gesture recognition control UI.
 28. (canceled) 29.(canceled)
 30. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim23, wherein the instructions further comprise: detecting the environmentbased on one or more of image recognition, a configuration of theelectronic device, a type of the electronic device, and/or a distancebetween the user and the electronic device.